Betsafe Review

Betsafe have been about since 2006. It’s probably fair to say that even though they are one of the longest serving online bookmakers in the industry, they probably haven’t hit the heights of some of their rivals, or at least in the UK.

But, for those of you who are new to the brand, then you are genuinely missing out on what we think is an exciting alternative to the more mainstream bookmakers. The site focusses heavily on football and American sports, which between them make up for over 80% of their total markets.

Betsafe have been known to try and work in some more ‘niche’ betting opportunities into their portfolio, with one of their most successful inclusions being that of esports. The esports industry is one that is going to see huge growth over the next few years, but they are already in position to strike as one of the leading providers of this exciting betting opportunity.

About Betsafe

Betsafe has been around since 2006 and are owned by Betsson, a Swedish company who has several ties now to the online gambling industry. Betsafe have a payer database of over 450,000 users, which is an impressive number. But, it could be argued that the company are only just starting to see the fruits of their labours, with their first few years not really setting the world alight.

What’s great about a company like Betsafe is that they have evolved massively since first opening their doors. It’s this kind of innovation and encouragement to include change into their philosophy that will see them succeed for many more years to come.

Best features

The site includes a massive array of sports. In fact, it has to be one of the largest portfolios of sports in the industry with everything from football to trotting up for grabs. We mentioned earlier that a Swedish company owned them and it’s been good to see that they have kept true to their roots with the inclusion of some Scandinavian sports such as Pesapallo and winter sports.

What we have to highlight is that not all of these sports have particular good market coverage. Your popular ones such as football, tennis, darts are will looked after, but going down the list it highlights how many markets are on offer for each sport, with a whole host having just single figure numbers next to them.

One of the sportsbooks most interesting features has been that of their Emperor App. The app is basically a way in which you can keep up to date with live games but also answer questions along the way about that game. You can play against your friends and even stake a wager or two about who you think will win.

Pricing

The pricing structure is probably what lets sites like Betsafe down. It’s tough when you are smaller to compete with the best due to the much smaller margins they are able to take, but then in turn to bet with somewhere like Betsafe on a regular basis isn’t going to yield as much value as a bet365 for example. The pricing isn’t terrible though, we must stress this, and for the most part it’s unlikely that you’ll notice a huge difference, but it is there.

Ease of use

The design of the site is fairly solid, but it won’t be winning any awards. It feels very dark with lots of black involved although the contrast font does work quite well. It terms of navigating about, the left hand sidebar means you can jump between sports and markets with ease, which was a bonus in an otherwise fairly uninspiring design.

Customer Support

Other Products

Casino

The casino at Betsafe is one of the biggest that we have come across and whilst size isn’t everything, the site does cater for a huge range of casino players. What was most impressive is that it was able to stand up on its own and not have to rely on the fact that it’s ‘just a sportsbook’s casino’ to gain traction.

They use a number of high profile software companies to power the casino, including the likes of Microgaming, OnGame and NetEnt. What’s good about their utilisation of companies is that they are used for different sections within the site. So, some might be more geared towards slots, whereas others might be looking more at the likes of table games and live casino.

Poker

The poker room is powered by that of OnGame. To be brutally honest, the whole OnGame network isn’t all that strong these days and struggled to find a huge range of poker games outside of peak hours. We would have to say that they software is now a little dated, but we did like the fact you were able to download direct to Mac, keeping Apple fan-boys and girls happy.

The competition on site isn’t all that easy either. The few players that are online are often regulars and anyone who plays in off-peak hours or puts in a high number of hands per week will be able to see the same players over and over again. The reason that the site is popular with regulars is usually to do with bonuses and any rakeback promotions that they might be hunting down.

Betsafe Company Info

Where are Betsafe based?

Depending where you are in the world will depend on which section of the comapny you will be contacting. If you are based out of the UK then you will be looking at their headquarters which are based in the Republic of Ireland. Outside of the UK, then you will be forwarded to that of their offices within Malta.

When were they founded?

The company have been about since 2006, which is actually quite a long time compared with some bookmakers. Originally, they were based out of Sweden, although natural expansion to markets and territories around the world meant they moved to that of the Republic of Ireland and Malta.

It is worth noting that Betsafe now market their product to over 100 different territories around the world, to give you an idea of their growth.

What are their main markets?

The Scandinavian market was and still is, to a certain degree, one of the company’s biggest earners. They have been able to get a massive following over there, with a reported 50% total share of their current player pool of 450,000.

These days, this market is shared with the likes of the UK and Ireland. Whilst they aren’t quite on the same scale as Scandinavia, they are another of Betsafe’s major attractions for punters.

Are they part of a group?

Betsafe are part of the BML Group. Alongside Betsafe the group include a number of key bookmakers including that of Betsson and NordicBet, two major players in the Scandinavian sports betting scene.

They also have 10 casino to choose from, including Mr smith, Star Casino and TrioBet Casino. Again, the majority of their success comes from Scandinavian betting markets.

Sponsorship

The company have been involved with a number of sponsorship deals for many sports and sports personalities around the world. One of their biggest and most recent has been the link with UFC fighter Connor McGregor, who became a brand ambassador in 2017.

Betsafe are also current official betting partners for Manchester City FC and have sponsored some sporting events such as Stars Sixes, high-profile boxing matches, David Hay v Tony Bellew most recently. They also backed the Gumball 3000, a car rally that takes place every year.